Nigel Reo-Coker says ‘rash’ Arsenal player will slip up against Manchester City tonight

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Nigel Reo-Coker has declared that he thinks Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes is going to make a mistake against Manchester City tonight.

Reo-Coker was previewing Arsenal’s trip to The Etihad on the House of Champions podcast.

Arsenal’s defence has been the subject of plenty of talk in recent weeks.

The loss of William Saliba to injury has put a cat amongst the pigeons in Arsenal’s title challenge.

Rob Holding has been tasked with replacing Saliba, but he’s not the same player.

It’s then been up to Gabriel Magalhaes to step up and lead the defence in the Frenchman’s absence, but he’s struggled at times.

He gave a penalty away against West Ham, and has looked a lot less solid in recent games.

Reo-Coker’s belief that Gabriel will always make a mistake for Arsenal is shared by several other pundits.

Steve Nicol echoed his thoughts before the Southampton match, while John Giles has claimed he’s going to let Mikel Arteta down.

Gabriel now has the perfect opportunity to prove everyone wrong against Erling Haaland at The Etihad.

Arsenal defender Gabriel has a mistake in him – Reo-Coker

The CBS pundit wasn’t confident in Gabriel, and said: “I’ll say this now, if I was a captain still playing in this league, and in this game and had a decent striker, do you what I’d tell my striker?

“Play on Gabriel. He is going to make a mistake, he is going to do something that will give you an opportunity.

“He will always make a mistake in 90 minutes or let someone in. Gabriel is still too rash, doesn’t play at a calm level, he’s still too emotionally involved every game he plays in.”

The criticism of Gabriel feels very harsh considering how good Arsenal’s defence has been all season.

The Brazilian has barely missed a match in all competitions, such is his consistency and Mikel Arteta’s lack of other options.

He has had to face the disruption of losing his usual centre-back partner which is never easy.

Gabriel will be praying he doesn’t make the mistake that potentially costs Arsenal the title tonight.